Two weeks later
I had no idea how long I had been in this place. Though I was no longer in the same room as before, my new home was a small room covered in metal walls. It had a small window in the door leading to the hallway, that was also completely covered in metal with black letters and numbers next to each door. The fluorescent lights gave the hallway an almost green tint, but the lights in my room were more of a blue color. In my room there was a small bed, a desk with a radio, and a nightstand. Many hours were spent waiting there; pacing the floor, laying on the bed, sitting on the bed. But with the radio, I found a new occupation.
Despite warnings from Dr. Strange that he would give me when he would visit periodically, I wanted to try to get my voice working again as soon as possible. Therefore, I started talking out loud; softly at first, getting louder as the days went along. I couldn't recognize the voice I was using, but it felt the most natural. When I would listen to the radio, I would replicate the voices and sounds that I would hear for entertainment. It soon became apparent that any sound that I heard, I could perfectly replicate. Voices of men, women, and children; animal sounds; metal clanking; sirens; it didn't matter. I wasn't sure if this was normal or not, but it brought me a little enjoyment in this miserable existence.
In the many hours, I had so much time to think and to try to remember my past. The most I was able to recover were a bright light shining in my eyes, running from loud pops, and someone hitting me in the face while I was laying on a hard ground. As long as it took me to remember just these three memories, my frustration became a standard companion for me. There were a few times that people wearing white coats would come in and ask me to come with them. They always led me to a large room with different things in it every time. One day there was a vase on a table, another there was a stack of bricks, random animals in cages, and more. They asked me to use my voice in different ways, I shattered the vase, shattered the bricks, and conversed with the animals. I couldn't understand them, but they enthusiastically continued the conversation, nonetheless.
One day I was mimicking a man speaking on the radio when I saw a person walk across the window of my room out of the corner of my eye. Typically, I recognized the employees of the place, even knowing their names. But this one was different. So, I got up and strained to see whoever it was, fortunately he stood still in the middle of the hallway and it wasn't far from my door. It was a tall, thin man with short brown hair. He was wearing a black and white striped uniform, like a prisoner. He was holding his head; I was guessing in disbelief or in another emotion. He turned around and I saw that he was wearing glasses. Part of my wanted to get his attention, but after seeing his face, I changed my mind. He looked frightened, and I knew why. Though I had never been in the same room as any of them, I would see the others that were also staying in this place. Some were quite intimidating, others unusual in appearance.
I thought about it, and by the time I decided to get his attention, he was quickly walking back to where he came. If I broke the glass of my window, he would be able to hear me; he may be my ticket out of this place. I stepped back and took a deep breath. The sound that came from my mouth was not high pitched, but it was a pure tone that caused the glass to move slowly at first, then faster and faster till finally it shattered. Then I shouted "Wait!" just loud enough to reach his ears. I had to be careful, otherwise I could hurt him. I didn't hear anything, and I was worried that he had already walked beyond my voice's range. But then I heard footsteps coming toward my door. Much to my relief, I saw the man's face looking back at me.
"Ms. James? Wh..what are you doing here?" he asked with a startled voice. So, he recognizes me…should I ask him to help me break out? Or should I get information first? He then looked at the window frame, seeing the shattered glass and he stepped back to examine the floor. "Shattered from inside the room…Let me see your hands…" he said firmly. I complied, showing him my hands as his eyes became wide. "You didn't break it with your hands…how?" "It's difficult to explain…" I said softly. I saw his eyes look at me with confusion and he shook his head a little, "Say that again…a little louder this time…" "Can you please help me?" I asked, ignoring his request. The man lifted his finger and held between his face and the window frame. "Y..you're not Ms. James…your voice is completely different. Who…what are you?" I wasn't sure how to respond, but I said, "I... I don't know."
He looked around in a nervous manner, "Well, you certainly can't be Ms. James, so whatever you are…I wish you the best. But I have to go." "Please!" I said with an elevated tone, "Can you at least tell me where I am?" He hesitated and replied, "Alright…it looks like you're in some place called Indian Hill…" "Well, I figured that." I said sarcastically. He looked at me with a look of derision, "Well, did you know that you're underneath Arkham Asylum?" "Arkham Asylum? …." "I have to go. Best of luck to you…" And just like that, he was gone. I wracked my brain trying to remember whatever I knew about the Asylum or something to help me get out. But before I could use my skills to shatter the door, I heard "What the hell?!" from the opposite direction of the retreating man. "We have a code 13 in cell 17!" I then heard his footsteps come to my door. He looked through the opening in the window and saw me, "Oh thank God, you're still here." "I'm sorry Elliot." I said softly. "What happened?" he asked. "It was an accident." I didn't want the staff to go after the man from earlier, so I didn't mention his appearance in the hallway. I would have to think of another way to escape Indian Hill since they would probably take extra precautions since this 'accident.'
They took extra precautions by binding my hands, shackling my feet, and they placed a specialized gag in my mouth prior to moving me to a new room. I didn't fight them, since I knew they were on guard at this point. As we were walking down the hall, I was able to see some of the other residents in the other cells. Included were a large man with ridges on his back like a dinosaur, a woman with short white hair, a young boy with black hair that reached his shoulders, and another man that looked like a reptile with his skin and eyes. We passed a very cold room, the window was frosted and blue and didn't allow me to look in at the resident. I finally was led to an empty room and they released my bonds and locked the door behind them. Again, I was left alone with my limited memory.
